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One of the greatest and longest-lasting conspiracy theories of the internet age is that singer Avril Lavigne is dead.
Not only does the conspiracy theory claim that Lavigne is dead, she was replaced by a body double named Melissa Vandella.
The conspiracy theory, which claims Avril Lavigne died in 2003, supposedly originated with a 2011 Brazilian blog titled “Avril Is Dead.” (Though some people think it actually began in 2005.
Lavigne supposedly fell into a deep depression after the release of her 2002 debut album, committed suicide and her record label hire a look-alike, Melissa Vandella, to replace her and she’s been doing it ever since.
In 2017, it gained new life thanks to a Twitter thread that went viral. Then in 2018, numerous people on Twitter decided to collectively troll Lavigne with conspiracy tweets that she’s dead anytime she posted anything to the social media platform.
Later that year, Avril Lavigne very briefly addressed the conspiracy theory that she is dead (but she didn’t deny it).
So, without a flat-out denial that Avril Lavgine isn’t actually Melissa Vandella, the conspiracy continued.
That is, until this week when the now 39-year-old Lavigne made an appearance on the Call Her Daddy podcast and was once again asked about it.
“There’s a conspiracy theory that I’m not me,” Lavigne said on the show then gave the camera a thumbs-up. “Cool. Honestly, it’s not that bad. It could be worse, right? Like, I feel like I got a good one. I don’t think it’s like negative or anything or creepy, it’s like…”
“Avril, this conspiracy theory about you is a little creepy. Come on,” the show’s host responded.
“Oh, yeah, I don’t know, it could be worse!” Lavigne replied.
Check out the entire episode below, with a little more talk about conspiracy theories including the one where people constantly tell Avril Lavigne that she hasn’t aged a day in 20 years.